JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Two bills making rounds in the Missouri Senate call for the state to increase its minimum legal marriage age to 18 years old.
Senate Bills 767 and 1342 raise this possibility. Missouri State Sens. Holly Thompson Rehder (R-Scott City) and Lauren Arthur (D-Kansas City) introduced the bills. Both are similar in the changes requested to Missouri’s marriage laws.
Right now, Missouri statutes prohibit anyone under 16 years old from getting married and anyone under 18 years old from getting married to another person who is at least 21 years old.
Both bills want to amend Missouri’s laws and change the state’s minimum legal marriage to 18 years old in all cases.
“This act repeals those provisions and no marriage license shall be issued in Missouri for individuals under 18 years of age,” both bills state within their language.
Earlier this week, both bills were assigned to be heard by the Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. The committee has not yet taken further action on these bills.
Missouri’s marriage laws have been a point of contention among lawmakers for several years, most notably during last year’s legislative session.
During a Senate floor meeting last April, State Sen. Mike Moon (R-Ash Grove) defended a pre-teen’s right to get married. Moon said he knew at least one person who got married at 12 years old and followed up with the comment, “Guess what, they’re still married.”
Another lawmaker, Missouri State Rep. Chris Sander (R-Jackson County), pushed for the state to redefine marriage within its constitution. Sander, who is openly gay, wanted the state to recognize marriage as an act between “two individuals” rather than one exclusively between opposite sexes.
